About Us

The Orangutan Foundation is a UK registered charity working to conserve the threatened orangutan and its globally important habitat, the tropical forests of Borneo and Sumatra.

Since its foundation in 1990, the Orangutan Foundation has developed a diverse range of programmes. Key stakeholders who include local communities, grassroot NGO’s, local business and regional government are at the heart of the Foundation’s work. With their inclusion comes conservation success and sustainability.

Being the first organisation in the UK to raise awareness about the plight of the species, the Orangutan Foundation continues to actively engage the public, worldwide media, corporate and governmental organisations. It is on the Executive Committee of the UNEP/UNESCO Great Ape Survival Project, a member of the Ape Alliance (www.4apes.com) and plays an active part in international networks to promote the conservation of orangutans through the protection of their tropical forest habitat.

Highlights

Sir David Attenborough -

“I have seen first-hand what wonderful work the Foundation is doing, and I am sure that the situation today is better than it would have been without it. But there is still a great deal to be done. May your past successes encourage you and give you the strength to tackle what lies ahead.”

Increasing the area of orangutan habitat under protection. In 2015, the Orangutan Foundation were instrumental in securing an extension, the size of Guernsey, to the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve, an increase of 15 per cent. The wildlife reserve and surrounding forest are vital ecosystems providing habitat to many threatened or endemic species for example, Bornean Orangutan, Proboscis Monkey, White-bearded Gibbon, Sunda Pangolin, Bornean Clouded Leopard and Storm’s Stork. The Reserve is also one of the few sites where rescued orangutans and other wildlife can be released back into the wild. Increasing the area of forest under protection was a major conservation achievement.

Rescuing and releasing orangutans and other wildlife. The Orangutan Foundation provides excellent veterinary care and monitoring for rescued and released orangutans and other wildlife in need.

Safeguarding critical orangutan habitat. In the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve, Central Kalimantan, an 8,000 hectare oil-palm plantation was stopped with crucial input by the Orangutan Foundation. Since 2003, the Orangutan Foundation has been actively helping to protect Tanjung Puting National Park and its wild orangutan population (estimated 4,000 orangutans) with guard posts and forest patrols.

Conserving the largest population of orangutans outside of protected areas. 85-90% of Bornean orangutans live outside of protected areas. The Orangutan Foundation is the first international organization to work in the biologically rich and unique forests of the remote Belantikan region, home to the largest population of orangutans outside of designated conservation areas. The Orangutan Foundation, its Indonesian partners, Yayorin and Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) are working on improving forest management.